DAMS’ Dino Beganovic took his second Formula 2 pole position on Friday in Melbourne, beating out both Rodin Motorsport cars of Martinius Stenshorne and Alex Dunne. Beganovic finished with a 1:28.695 to go 0.216 seconds ahead of second-placed Stenshorne, while Dunne made a late recovery from early qualifying struggles to finish 0.344s behind the man on pole.

By August Bamford

Beganovic continued where he left off at the end of the 2025 season, returning to the DAMS team that he first drove for during the closing rounds of 2024. The combination already proved effective then, and that momentum appears to have carried straight into 2026 as Beganovic begins his new campaign from pole position.

The Swede has built a reputation as a driver capable of delivering when it matters most. Last season at Imola, he secured his maiden F2 pole position with his final effort of the session, sneaking the lap in moments before a red flag ended qualifying. Timing, as much as outright pace, can often define qualifying sessions in F2, and Beganovic has already shown a knack for finding the lap when the pressure is highest.

“I think in general I enjoy the pressure,” Beganovic told Feeder Series in the post-session press conference. “It brings out the good in me, and some people are like that, some people are the other way, but I’ve been able to deal with pressure in a positive way and it kind of helps me, as well as working a lot mentally to prepare for qualifying sessions but also race weekends. Visualising that perfect lap to put together in the end, that’s all that matters.”

The opening round of qualifying was another dramatic affair, featuring two red flags and a frantic final dash. Beganovic was the first driver to dip into the 1m29s six minutes into the session, briefly establishing himself at the top of the timing screens. Interrupted running meant few drivers were able to piece together fully representative laps, but in the decisive moments that ended the session, Beganovic delivered once again, producing purple sectors in the first and third sectors to seal pole position ahead of Stenshorne.

The Norwegian was the first driver out of the pits at the start of the session, initially setting an unrepresentative 1:48.937 as the track began to evolve. As the first flurry of laps came in, the Norwegian rapidly improved and briefly held provisional pole before being displaced by Nikola Tsolov, who went three and a half tenths clear of Stenshorne.

Tsolov and Stenshorne held their positions through two red flags that limited track time. The first came with 20 minutes remaining when Mari Boya lost the rear of his car and hit the wall at Turn 12, in a similar fashion to an incident Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak had in practice. Boya had already endured a difficult session, with his only representative lap time deleted for track limits. He will start both races last absent any grid penalties for other drivers. 

The second red flag came with 8:54 remaining when Minì, who had shown exceptional pace to top practice by over four tenths, stopped on track with engine trouble, ending his hopes of a front-row start. There were warning signs after the first red flag, as Minì remained in the pits with his sidepod cover off while the rest of the field went back out. His MP Motorsport team changed tyres and attempted to get him back on track for the final runs, but he was forced to stop on his outlap. Minì will start at the back of the grid, ahead of only Boya.

During the second interruption, the red flag was converted to a yellow flag with the pit exit closed, creation a tense environment as the clock continued to tick down while cars remained stationary in the pit lane. With track time rapidly disappearing, drivers were left waiting for the opportunity to head back out for what would likely be just one final attempt for each.

Midway through the session, Dunne was languishing in 15th after a lap time was deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 6. But his urgency to improve paid off as he led the pack out of the pit lane, briefly taking provisional pole on his final effort after the clock had ticked down to zero. Seconds later, Stenshorne jumped to the top momentarily, taking provisional pole away from teammate Dunne, before ultimately securing second place as Beganovic jumped from seventh to first on his final flyer.

“[Pressure] is something I’ve enjoyed my whole career,” the Ferrari junior said. “It’s just you and the car in the end, one lap that counts. And I always had that as a strong tool, and I’m happy to have that as something strong for myself.”

Dunne, a title contender for much of the 2025 season, pulled off something of a rescue job to put two Rodin cars in the top three. If qualifying is any indication, having both Stenshorne and Dunne regularly fighting near the front could provide a major boost for the team that finished only seventh in the teams’ standings last season.

Noel León also jumped into the top 10 late on to take fourth ahead of his Campos Racing teammate Tsolov, who slid down to fifth. Rafael Câmara rounded out the top six in what was a strong showing for the rookie class, of which five members finished inside the top 10. Seventh went to Kush Maini, the field’s most experienced driver, in his ART Grand Prix entry.

Eighth was Oliver Goethe of MP Motorsport; ninth was Joshua Dürksen in the other Invicta Racing car; and 10th was the Thai rookie Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak, also of ART, who will start on reverse-grid pole for Saturday’s sprint race. Inthraphuvasak had hit the wall at Turn 12 earlier in practice, so the result will be a welcome rebound for him as ART aim to translate their one-lap speed into the podiums and consistent points finishes they were missing in 2025. 

Trident’s Laurens van Hoepen qualified 11th, a result that already brings the hope of possible points for a team that scored only two points all of last season. Beganovic’s DAMS teammate, rookie Roman Bilinski, qualified 12th on debut.

Behind him was the unorthodox teammate duo at Hitech. Ritomo Miyata and Colton Herta ended up 13th and 14th respectively in the final order, separated by 0.125s, though the latter had a much more eventful path to that result. The IndyCar convert spun off at Turn 10 in practice, losing nearly 30 minutes of valuable track time ahead of qualifying, and sat 21st after the second stoppage as he struggled to find consistent laps. In the final scramble, Herta fought through the middle of the pack and managed to improve to 14th, posting a purple middle sector that highlighted where he was strongest.

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency